A Review by Phil Calabro
2004, Universal, Dir. Paul Weitz - Starring Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Scarlet Johansson, Marg Helgenberger, David Paymer, Clark Gregg, Philip Baker Hall, Selma Blair, Frankie Faison, Ty Burrell, Kevin Chapman, Amy Aquino, Zena Grey, Colleen Camp
Here we have another case of 'serious film disguised as big-budget comedy', which is the same diagnosis given to this year's foolish 'Girl Next Door'. But there's a difference between the two setups - whereas 'Girl Next Door' tied together humor and taboo and tried desperately to make something serious from the situation, 'In Good Company' is a truthful, sympathetic film. There have been very few movies that leave me in tears, but plenty of movies get me close to it - 'Company' hits the mark as one of those films simply because these are not your ordinary characters. They are playing realistic people, with realistic problems, with a realistic motive in their hands. Some will take the film to be just another people-drama, but here lies a satire of corporate takeovers and the truth about taking control of your life. Dennis Quaid and Topher Grace triumph in this quaint, beautiful film about learning about yourself and changing for others.
Dan Foreman (Quaid) is the advertising manager for athletic magazine Sports Weekly. He lives an ordinary life, has a beautiful wife (Helgenberger) who has learned she is pregnant, a 20-something daughter Alex (Johansson) who's about to transfer to NYU, and is getting a decent payroll. But one day, big corporation WorldCom buys over the company that runs Sports Weekly, and this puts young and unexperienced advertising intern Carter Duryea (Grace) in the managing role that Dan once held. Dan, aghast at the thought that he's being replaced by someone younger, quickly begins to dislike Carter - not to mention the drop in the payroll, which will pay for the birth procedure and NYU admission. But Carter is having problems himself. He just recently got divorced from wife Kimberly (Blair), is afraid he is hated by his co-workers, and feels pushed around by his jerk boss Steckle (Gregg). But then Carter meets Alex during dinner at Dan's house one night, and unexpectedly falls in love with her. In a bind between two generations, Dan and Carter must work out their differences and develop a sense of synergy.
Dennis Quaid has been seriously overlooked by most casting crews, because his job in 'Good Company' just shows his experience on screen. He is overly protective of his daughter, and easily annoyed by the modernized attitude of Carter's rule. This movie doesn't show some cheesy last-minute bond between Carter and Dan, but it slowly allows Quaid and Grace to know each better, realize their contrasting situations, and finally establish a friendship. Both are strikingly real to everyday people - Quaid has a knack of being a 50-something father with a cubicle job, Carter's the Gen-X office dog. Although cliched in parts, they all will strike a chord to all audience members. Topher Grace is really slipping into the hole of new-age A-list actors - he's a heartwarming young man with no future set ahead for him. He has a very odd way of dealing with this uncertainty, and it may harm those around him, but he's too worried about himself than those around him. Scarlett Johansson once again does an excellent job at the role of Alex - a girl who is very similar to Carter in the sense that she is confused about her future. Together, Grace and Johansson have a very simplistic relationship, nothing much of value, but still essential to the conflict with Dan. It's one of those relationships where you think you know how it will end, because it all fits so nicely, but it completely changes.
Director Paul Weitz is not engrossed with style, a wise choice on a perfectly good movie such as this. The film doesn't feel glossy or glamourous, almost as if shot with a nice digital camcorder. What this movie did to me most was strike me strongly in the dire situations our characters faced. When Dan's job is taken away, he begins to experience a long period of stress. How would he pay for the hospital fees when the baby is born? And the money for Alex to NYU? True, he could send Alex to SUNY for cheaper - but Dan knows what must come first, and that's to give his daughter freedom from constant watch she's suffered from. These don't feel like ordinary movie problems; they're not solved quickly in the movie - they are conflicts that ordinary people face. Carter has the glamorous life: he has everything he would want, a nice car, a beautiful wife - but something is stopping from being happy. Is it the fact that he's too happy? Or because he doesn't feel he's heading in the right direction? I'll leave you to answer these for yourself.
'In Good Company' is a beautiful movie with great performances by Dennis Quaid and Topher Grace. This is not your average B-list comedy - it is a truthful little picture of great proportions. Close to one of last year's best, but misses it by a thread. 'Closer' has been helmed as the year's most truthful love story, but if you want something truthful and enjoyable, I'd definitely check this out.
